Process
The four steps of customer development
Search first (discovery and validation), then execution (creation and company building)
Steve Blank's customer development model in four steps. Customer discovery and customer validation make up the search phase, where a startup tests who the customer is, what problem they have and whether a repeatable business model exists. Customer creation and company building are the execution phase. It is for founders deciding what to prove before they scale. Koji runs AI-moderated interviews in parallel, which helps the discovery step keep pace with the product work.
Where this appears
What's in this process
- Customer discovery: Turn hypotheses into facts. Talk to prospects to test whether the problem is real, urgent and widespread.
- Customer validation: Prove the problem and solution can carry a repeatable, scalable business model. If not, pivot back to discovery.
- Customer creation: With the model validated, build end-user demand and the funnel that feeds your repeatable process.
- Company building: Move from a team that searches for a model to one structured to execute it at scale.
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<a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/steve-blank-four-steps-of-customer-development"><img src="https://www.koji.so/visuals/steve-blank-four-steps-of-customer-development/steve-blank-four-steps-of-customer-development.png" alt="Process showing the four steps of customer development: customer discovery, customer validation, customer creation and company building." width="1200" height="630" /></a>
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/steve-blank-four-steps-of-customer-development">The four steps of customer development</a>, Koji</p>
